THE ESSENTIALS

THE SCARILY ON-POINT EMAIL

From a reader, who attached the photo on the right:

Bo Ryan is some sort of evil immortal god, who took the identity, for a time of a masochistic German psychiatrist, Johann Christian Reil, who was into, among other things, pouring hot wax on mental patients, placing them in tubs of live eels, and playing the cat organ.

Yeah, this checks out.

THE STAKES

Beating Wisconsin would qualify as an upset, even at home. Should Michigan pull it off, they'd move ahead of the Badgers by virtue of having an extra win in hand, and could take first place in the Big Ten if Indiana falls at Ohio State on Sunday.

THE LINEUP CARD

Projected starters are in bold. Hover over headers for stat explanations. The "Should I Be Mad If He Hits A Three" methodology: we're mad if a guy who's not good at shooting somehow hits one. Yes, you're still allowed to be unhappy if a proven shooter is left open. It's a free country.

Solid inside/outside threat. Not nearly as good a rebounder as Kaminsky.

F

30

Vitto Brown

So.

6'8, 237

21

20

Very

Good rebounder, not a huge offensive threat.

G

3

Zak Showalter

So.

6'2, 185

14

21

Yes

Not much of a shooter or passer, but bizarrely good rebounder for small G.

THE RESUME

Wisconsin has lost just two games this year, one at home to Duke on a night when the Blue Devils looks unbeatable, the other on the road to... Rutgers. In fairness, the latter occurred while Frank Kaminsky was briefly sidelined, but it's still one of the strangest results of this season.

The Badgers have tallied nine wins against top-100 KenPom squads, including a 13-point neutral court handling of #10 Oklahoma. Eight of their wins have come by 20 points or more, including Tuesday's 82-50 thrashing of #44 Iowa. They've ranked in between #4 and #6 on KenPom the entire season, and currently sit at #5.

THE ESSENTIALS

Right: Look up Rutgers mascot images, get free nightmares for life. (Source)

THE US

The injury situation went from limiting to dire in a hurry, with the worst of it being Caris LeVert's season-ending foot fracture suffered on the final play of Saturday's Northwestern game.

It doesn't end there. Spike Albrecht and Ricky Doyle are both questionable due to illness; after Albrecht missed the whole game and Doyle the second half on Saturday, neither practiced Sunday. The same bug has limited Zak Irvin, though he's been able to play and practice through it. Kameron Chatman is questionable due to swelling in his knee.

Even the scout team has been hit hard. DJ Wilson still isn't cleared for full-court practice, so he's not (yet) a candidate to have his redshirt lifted. Transfer Duncan Robinson, who isn't even eligible to play, has sat out the last few weeks with a sprained ankle. Things got so bad this week that David Merritt, the former walk-on point guard, suited up for practice alongside coaches and team managers. No, he doesn't have any more eligibility.

If the questionable players can't go, Michigan will have a very short bench. The presumed starting lineup would be Walton-MAAR-Irvin-Dawkins-Donnal, leaving Max Bielfeldt as the only scholarship player off the bench. Walk-on Sean Lonergan practiced with the first team Monday in anticipation of getting serious minutes.

THE STAKES

Not losing to Rutgers would be nice.

THE LINEUP CARD

Projected starters are in bold. Hover over headers for stat explanations. The "Should I Be Mad If He Hits A Three" methodology: we're mad if a guy who's not good at shooting somehow hits one. Yes, you're still allowed to be unhappy if a proven shooter is left open. It's a free country.

Pos.

#

Name

Yr.

Ht./Wt.

%Min

%Poss

SIBMIHHAT

G

4

Myles Mack

Sr.

5'10, 175

90

24

Kinda

Scoring and assist leader is RU's only player with ORtg above 100.

G

2

Bishop Daniels

Jr.

6'3, 185

43

26

Kinda

Not very efficient but draws a lot of fouls. Very turnover-prone.

F

10

Junior Etou

So.

6'7, 230

76

16

Kinda

Team's best defensive rebounder. Iffy shooter.

F

11

Kadeem Jack

Sr.

6'9, 235

70

27

Yes

43% on twos and 29% on threes, so naturally takes a crapton of shots.

C

35

Greg Lewis

Jr.

6'9, 245

63

15

Very

Good rim protector, mediocre rebounder and finisher.

G

6

Mike Williams

Fr.

6'2, 190

60

19

Yes

Spot-up shooter who can't knock down shots (23% 3P).

F

22

DJ Foreman

Fr.

6'8, 230

35

16

Not really

Inconsistent finisher draws lots of fouls but has hit just 7/25 FTs.

C

40

Shaquille Doorson

Fr.

6'11, 275

23

12

Very

Low usage, solid off. rebounder and shot-blocker, TO- and foul-prone.

THE RESUME

Rutgers had a rough go in nonconference play, losing to #180 St. Peter's and #174 St. Francis at home and failing to come within 17 points of the three top-100 squads they faced. They started off the Big Ten schedule by losing at home to Northwestern, edged Penn State by four at home, got blown out at Nebraska, and then... beat Wisconsin. Yes, the Badgers were without Frank Kaminsky, but that's still deeply bizarre.

The Scarlet Knights have followed up their signature win with road losses to Maryland and Minnesota, the latter giving the Gophers their first conference win.

THE ESSENTIALS

Right: Last year, when Michigan was much better and Northwestern was, as usual, Northwestern. [Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog]

THE STAKES

Losing this game would probably be a mild disappointment to the football recruits in attendance.

Oh, and it'd be pretty bad for the basketball team, too.

THE LINEUP CARD

Projected starters are in bold. Hover over headers for stat explanations. The "Should I Be Mad If He Hits A Three" methodology: we're mad if a guy who's not good at shooting somehow hits one. Yes, you're still allowed to be unhappy if a proven shooter is left open. It's a free country.

Pos.

#

Name

Yr.

Ht./Wt.

%Min

%Poss

SIBMIHHAT

G

30

Bryant McIntosh

Fr.

6'3, 177

81

25

No

Scoring and assist leader. Not remarkably efficient, but can create.

G

14

Tre Demps

Jr.

6'3, 198

79

23

Yes

Takes a ton of shots but isn't a good shooter: 46/29/64 2P%/3P%/FT%.

F

4

Vic Law

Fr.

6'7, 185

60

20

Yes

Good defender, rebounder whose offensive game isn't up to par yet.

F

34

Sanjay Lumpkin

So.

6'6, 220

67

12

Not Really

Minuscule usage but very efficient. Mediocre rebounder.

C

22

Alex Olah

Jr.

7'0, 270

69

22

Not Really

Good rebounder, shot-blocker. Not a great finisher, but has range.

G

23

JerShon Cobb

Sr.

6'5, 208

38

17

Kinda

Mostly spot-up shooter hitting just 32% of 3PA.

G/F

20

Scottie Lindsey

Fr.

6'5, 175

27

19

No

Solid outside shooter does decent work on boards.

F

32

Nathan Taphorn

So.

6'7, 215

21

19

No

Hitting 68% of twos and 52% of threes. Total nonfactor on def. boards.

THE RESUME

Northwestern lost to all four KenPom top-150 teams they played in the nonconference portion of the schedule, with the narrowest margin by eight points at home against #89 Georgia Tech. They broke that streak in the first Big Ten game, upsetting(?) #145 Rutgers in Piscataway by four points. They've dropped all three conference games since, getting run off their home court by Wisconsin before tight contests at Michigan State and at home against Illinois. The MSU game went to overtime, and Northwestern came within a fingernail of inbounding in the frontcourt to tie their in-state rival in the final second of regulation, only for review to give the ball (rightfully, it appeared) to the Illini.

THE STAKES

This game is all about upside for Michigan, as nobody really expects them to win this one: Ohio State is 100-9 at home since 2009-10, the Wolverines haven't exactly impressed even during their back-to-back wins, and both KenPom and Vegas have the Buckeyes favored by ten.

Pull off the upset, though, and Michigan would suddenly have a signature win while sitting, however briefly, alone atop the conference standings. (Wisconsin, Maryland, and Michigan State don't play tonight.) To get to 12 conference wins—the likely target number for an NCAA bid—they're going to have to pull out an unlikely win or two, and this would certainly qualify.

THE LINEUP CARD

Projected starters are in bold. Hover over headers for stat explanations. The "Should I Be Mad If He Hits A Three" methodology: we're mad if a guy who's not good at shooting somehow hits one. Yes, you're still allowed to be unhappy if a proven shooter is left open. It's a free country.

Pos.

#

Name

Yr.

Ht./Wt.

%Min

%Poss

SIBMIHHAT

G

3

Shannon Scott

Sr.

6'1, 185

74

21

Yes

Great defender, facilitates offense well, still not much of a shooter.

Excellent on the boards, good finisher, active defender. Turnover-prone.

G

15

Kam Williams

Fr.

6'2, 175

40

18

No

Efficient scorer sticks mostly to spot-up threes.

C

55

Trey McDonald

Sr.

6'8, 240

28

16

Very

Very good rebounder, especially on offense. Decent rim protector.

THE RESUME

The Buckeyes dropped just two non-conference games, both to top-ten teams, falling at #9 Louisville and dropping a neutral-court game to #9 UNC. They played the rest of their non-conference schedule at home and won every game handily, though the top-ranked team they beat was #95 Marquette.

They're off to just a 2-2 start to Big Ten play. OSU lost their opener at home to Iowa when freshman phenom D'Angelo Russell had a rough day from the field and the defense turned in an uncharacteristically poor performance. After a blowout home victory over Illinois and a thrilling overtime triumph at Minnesota, they fell by three points at Indiana on Saturday when, once again, Russell went cold.

THE ESSENTIALS

Right: Michigan swept last year's games against the Gophers; Saturday's tilt will be their only matchup this regular season. [Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog]

THE LINEUP CARD

Projected starters are in bold. Hover over headers for stat explanations. The "Should I Be Mad If He Hits A Three" methodology: we're mad if a guy who's not good at shooting somehow hits one. Yes, you're still allowed to be unhappy if a proven shooter is left open. It's a free country.

THE RESUME

The Gophers are winless so far in Big Ten play, though much of that has to do with a tough schedule: after opening conference play at #63 Purdue, a game they kept close, they lost handily at #20 Maryland before falling to #17 Ohio State at home in overtime—the OSU game was a tight, exciting contest throughout. Minnesota's two nonconference losses are also of the quality variety, against #9 Louisville (neutral court) and at #34 St. John's.

Quality wins, however, are lacking. Other than a neutral-court triumph over #33 Georgia, Minnesota hasn't beaten a team ranked higher than #115 (Western Kentucky), and only one other win came against a top-200 opponent.

THE LINEUP CARD

Projected starters are in bold. %Min and %Poss figure are from this season now—yes, there will be a fair amount of noise in these numbers for a while. The "Should I Be Mad If He Hits A Three" methodology: we're mad if a guy who's not good at shooting somehow hits one. Yes, you're still allowed to be unhappy if a proven shooter is left open.

THE RESUME

Penn State nearly worked their way through a nonconference slate of tomato cans unscathed, even knocking off #37 George Washington at home in the only game they played against a top-100 opponent. They did, however, trip up in a neutral site tourney game against a mediocre Charlotte squad. Know that feel, bros.

The start to Big Ten play hasn't been so kind. They predictably got blasted at Wisconsin in their conference opener before less predictably losing by four at Rutgers on Saturday. Coach Pat Chambers had a tough time explaining away the latter:

"Coming to New Jersey, for us, is a challenge, because we've got a lot of Philly kids and a lot of New Jersey kids. Got a lot of people in the stands. I hope that wasn't the reason our energy was low."

So, a border rivalry is a plausible reason for low energy?

"But I just think Rutgers' energy was that high. I thought they came out and played with a lot of fire."

For the record, school was not in session at RU and the baseline student section was largely barren except for the band. It was by no means an intimidating atmosphere.

Sometimes coaches would be better served to throw up their hands and say "college basketball is weird," because that's the damn truth.